Method of manufacturing a brassiere or an article of clothing having a fastener

ABSTRACT

A fastener has first and second fastening parts inter-engageable for fastening two side parts of a brassiere or similar article of clothing. The first and second fastening parts include co-operable fastening members for detachable fastening. The fastening members, at least when attached, are concealable by a concealing member, the concealing member being movable between an operating position to conceal the fastening members and a non-operating position to expose the fastening members.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a fastener, for example particularly,but not exclusively a fastener for use in a Brassiere.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Brassieres are specialized garment designed to support a woman's breastsand this may date back to ancient Greece. Conventionally they wereconsidered as undergarments but now they have evolved into fashion item.

The changing trend, the complexity of the available design and materialallow brassieres to become outerwear for different purposes such asdance and athletics while providing the support and coverage required.The concept of lingerie as outerwear is not new and is more popular.

One-piece sport bras, for example are common outerwear but well known tobe uncomfortable to wear as they are usually very tight. Also, the sizeof a sport bra is not adjustable as because they come in one-piece. Theband is an elastic strip permitting no adjustment in band size otherthan relying on its elasticity. Not all brassieres are suitable asouterwear. Conventional brassieres permit adjustment in band size by theuse of an adjustable fastener. The mere presence of an adjustablefastener on a brassier creates the impression that the piece of garmentis an underwear which ought to be covered by an outer garment.

The invention seeks to eliminate or at least to mitigate suchshortcomings by providing a new or otherwise improved fastener forbrassieres.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, there is provided a fastener comprisingfirst and second fastening parts inter-engageable for fastening two sideparts of a brassiere or similar article of clothing, the first andsecond fastening parts including co-operable fastening members fordetachable fastening, wherein the fastening members, at least whenattached, are concealable by a concealing member, the concealing memberis movable between an operating position to conceal the fasteningmembers and a non-operating position to expose the fastening members.

Preferably, the concealing member is removably fixed to one of the firstand second fastening parts and remains movable between the operating andnon-operating positions.

More preferably, the concealing member has a side portion sewed onto oneof the first and second fastening parts and remains operable between theoperating and non-operating positions.

Yet more preferably, the concealing member is co-operable with aretainer to releasably retain the concealing member at the operatingposition.

Advantageously, the retainer is a two-part retainer inter-engageable forretaining the concealing member at the operating position.

More advantageously, the concealing member is in the form of adetachable pad attachable to the fastening parts by the two-partretainer.

Yet more advantageously, the concealing member is in the form of asleeve unraveled to operate at the operating position where it wrapsaround the first and second fastening parts for concealing the same.

It is preferable that the sleeve is pre-formed.

It is advantageous that the concealing member has outer and inneropposite surfaces, the outer surface is exposed when the concealingmember is at the operating position.

Preferably, the inner surface is exposed when the concealing member isat the non-operating position and is distinguishable from the firstsurface for indication purpose.

More preferably, the concealing member is dimensioned to conceal bothfastening members to their entirety when it is moved to the operatingposition.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a brassierecomprising a band with two side parts and the fastener as mentionedabove provided with the two side parts, wherein the concealing member ismade of a material indistinguishable from that of the band.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a brassiere withtwo side parts comprising a fastener having first and second fasteningparts inter-engageable for fastening the two side parts, the first andsecond fastening parts including co-operable fastening members fordetachable fastening; and a concealing member, wherein, the fasteningmembers, at least when attached, are concealable by a concealing member,the concealing member being movable between an operating position toconceal the fastening members and a non-operating position to expose thefastening members.

Preferably, the concealing member is made of a materialindistinguishable from that of the band.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method ofmanufacturing a brassiere or an article of clothing having a fastener asmentioned above comprising the steps of: providing inter-engageablefirst and second fastening parts with co-operable fastening members fordetachable fastening; attaching the first and second fastening parts torespective side parts of the brassiere or similar article of clothing;and providing a concealing member with at least one of the side parts,wherein the concealing member is movable between an operating positionto conceal the fastening members and a non-operating position to exposethe fastening members.

Preferably, the concealing member is pre-formed before it is providedwith the at least one of the side parts.

More preferably, the concealing member is fixed to one of the first andsecond fastening parts and remains movable between the operating andnon-operating positions.

Advantageously, the concealing member is in the form of a sleeveunraveled to operate at the operating position for concealing thefastening members.

It is preferable that the method further includes the step of providinga retainer which co-operable with the concealing member to releasablyretain the concealing member at the operating position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1D are illustrative drawings of a conventional brassierewith adjustable band;

FIGS. 2A to 2C are illustrative drawings of a fastener in accordancewith the invention, which has a concealing member sewed onto an eyetape;

FIGS. 3A to 3F are schematic illustrative drawings of the use of abrassier with the fastener in FIGS. 2A to 2C;

FIGS. 3G and 3H are schematic illustrative drawings of the use of abrassier with the fastener in accordance with the invention, which has aconcealing member sewed onto the hook tape;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged illustration of the use of the fastener in FIGS.2A to 2C;

FIGS. 5A to 5E are illustrative drawings of another embodiment of afastener in accordance with the invention;

FIGS. 6A to 6C are illustrative drawings of a further embodiment of afastener in accordance with the invention;

FIGS. 7A to 7F are illustrative drawings of the use of a brassier withan embodiment of the fastener in FIGS. 2A to 2C;

FIGS. 8A to 8D are illustrative drawings of the use of a brassier withan embodiment of the fastener in FIGS. 5A to 5E; and

FIGS. 9A to 9G are illustrative drawings of a brassiere with anembodiment of the fastener in FIGS. 6A to 6C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1A to 1D, there are shown two types of conventionalbrassier. Those in FIGS. 1A and 1B are brassieres with adjustablefasteners which are generally considered as undergarments. Those inFIGS. 1C and 1D are bra tops without adjustable fastener, commonly usedas sportswear.

As shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, the fastener 100 in accordance with theinvention is preferably a two part inter-engageable fastener in the formof hook and eye tapes. The hook tape 101 is connected to one part of aband 201 of a brassier 200 or parts on a similar article of clothingsuch as all types of lingerie e.g., a girdle. The eye tape 102 isconnected to the other part of the band 201 of the brassier 200.Generally, the hook and eye tapes 101 and 102 are pre-formed byconventional means and then sewed onto the respective parts of the band201. In the preferred embodiment, a concealing member 103 is providedwith the fastener 100. Alternatively, the concealing member 103 issecurely attached to or sewed onto one of the bands 201 of the brassier200 instead of on the fastener 100. This concealing member 103 ismovable between the operating position to conceal the hook and eye tapes101 and 102 and it can be moved to a non-operating position exposing thehook and eye tape 101 and 102 to permit access by the user.

Referring to FIGS. 3A to 3F and 4, in a preferred embodiment, theconcealing member 103 is in the form of a sleeve with one end sewed ontothe eye tape 102. In the non-operating position, the sleeve 103 ispulled up or turned inside out away from the eye tape 102 to thenon-operating position for exposing the eye. The hook on the hook tape101 may then hooked onto the eye to form an inter-engagement connectingthe parts of the band 201. Thereafter, the sleeve 103 can berolled/pulled down or flipped over to the operating position forconcealing the hook and eye tapes 101 and 102. The sleeve 103 isunraveled to wrap around the hook and eye fastener 101 and 102. At leastthe outside of the sleeve 103 or the whole of the sleeve 103 ispreferably made of the same material as the band 201. Once the sleeve103 is moved to the operating position, the band 201 and the sleeve 103is basically indistinguishable at least from afar. The sleeve 103 isretained at the operating position by friction or its own elasticity.When the user would like to remove the brassier 100, the sleeve 103 canbe pulled up or turned inside out away from the hook and eye tapes 101and 102 to the non-operating position again. Access to the hook and eyetapes 101 and 102 is permitted.

In another embodiment, the sleeve 103 does not have to be sewed to theeye tape 102. Instead it may be sleeved onto the relevant part of theband 201 and be pulled to the operating position for concealing the hookand eye tapes 101 and 102 when in use.

In a further embodiment as shown in FIGS. 3G and 3H, the sleeve 103 issewed onto the hook tape 101. Alternatively, the sleeve 103 may be sewedonto the band 201 on which the hook tape or eye tape 101 or 102 isprovided.

Turning to FIGS. 5A to 5E. There is shown another embodiment of thefastener 100. The concealing member 103 is a separate pad. The pad 103is retained in the operating position by a retainer 104. The retainer104 is a two-part inter-engageable retainer. Preferably a Velcro®. Onepart of the Velcro® 104A is fixed to the pad 103 while the other part1048 is fixed to the back of the eye tape 102. The pad 103 may include apair of connectors 105 for detachably connecting the pad 103 to the backof the eye tape 102 yet remains operable between the operating andnon-operating positions as shown in FIG. 50. The pad 103 can be flippedbetween the operating and non-operating positions.

In a further embodiment of the fastener 100 as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C,the concealing member 103 is again in the form of a separate pad. A part104A of the retainer 104 is fixed onto one side of the pad 103. Theother part 1048 of the retainer 104 has two parts or pieces. One part isfixed onto the front side of the eye tape 102 adjacent the end where theeye tape 102 is sewed onto the band 201. The other is fixed onto theback and adjacent the free end of the hook tape 101. Once the hook andeye tapes 101 and 102 are fastened, the pad 103 may be placed over themto conceal the tapes 101 and 102. The pad 103 is detachably retained inthis operating position by the retainer 104. The pad 103 can be readilyremoved by pulling it back and rip it off the hook and eye tapes 101 and102. Of course, it is possible for one part of the retainer 104 to befixed onto one of the bands 201 and the other piece fixed onto the backof the hook tape 101 or the band on which the hook tape 101 is sewed.

The pad 103 in both embodiments is preferably made of the same materialas the bands 201 or the rest of the brassier 200 such that when the pad103 is in the operating position, it cannot be distinguished from thebands or the rest of the brassier 200. The brassier 200 would be morelike an outerwear yet permitting some adjustment on the band sizeenhancing comfort.

FIGS. 7A to 9G shows an embodiment of a brassier 200 with the fastener100. This brassier 200 is more like a sports bra yet with an adjustablefastener 100 to permit adjustment on the band size.

The fastener 100 is basically the same as that as discussed above exceptthat it has more hooks and eyes on the hook and eye tapes 101 and 102.

A brassier 100 is a personal article of clothing. The user may try thebrassier 200 on and select the preferred band size by fastening thehooks on the hook tape 101 to a preferred row of eyes on the eye tape102. Once that is decided, the concealing member 103 may then be movedto its operating position. The concealing member 103 may be retained atthe operating position when the brassier 200 is in use or not e.g. inthe laundry. There is no need to move the concealing member 103 to andfrom the operating and non-operating positions every time the brassier200 is used.

Preferably, the concealing member 103 is dimensioned to conceal the hookand eye tapes 101 and 102 to their entirety.

The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a brassiere oran article of clothing having a fastener as detailed above. The methodincludes the steps of providing the fastener 100 which includes hook andeye tapes 101 and 102 and a concealing member 103 and sewing the hookand eye tapes 101 and 102 to respective parts of the band 201. Theconcealing member 103 may be provided separately from the hook and eyetapes 101 and 102 or is pre-sewed onto the eye tape 102 or the hook tape101 or any one of the bands 201. A retainer 104 as described above maybe provided on the hook tape 101 or eye tape 102 or the band(s) 201 toretain the concealing member 103 at the operating position.

The invention has been given by way of example only, and various othermodifications of and/or alterations to the described embodiment may bemade by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope ofthe invention as specified in the appended claims.

1. A method of manufacturing a brassiere or an article of clothinghaving a fastener comprising: providing inter-engageable first andsecond fastening parts with co-operable fastening members for detachablefastening; attaching the first and second fastening parts to respectiveside parts of the brassiere or the article of clothing; and providing aconcealing member with at least one of the side parts, wherein theconcealing member is movable between an operating position to concealthe fastening members and a non-operating position to expose thefastening members.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein theconcealing member is pre-formed before it is provided with the at leastone of the side parts.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein theconcealing member is fixed to one of the first and second fasteningparts and remains movable between the operating and non-operatingpositions.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the concealingmember is in the form of a sleeve unraveled to operate at the operatingposition for concealing the fastening members.
 5. The method as claimedin claim 1 further including the step of providing a retainer which isco-operable with the concealing member to releasably retain theconcealing member at the operating position.